US Patent 11572099 Merge behavior systems and methods for merging vehicles

A merge behavior system assists a host vehicle positioned in a merge lane that is adjacent a mainline lane. The merge behavior system includes an identification module that identifies at least one proximate vehicle in the mainline lane, if present. The merge behavior system also includes a prediction module that selects one or more models based on the at least one proximate vehicle, calculates one or more merge factors corresponding to the one or more models, and predicts a merge location based on the one or more merge factors. The merge behavior system further includes a control module that adjusts a kinematic parameter of the host vehicle to bring the host vehicle within a merging distance of the predicted merge location. The merge behavior system includes a merge module that determines whether a gap at the predicted merge location is a sufficient size for the host vehicle.